FREEPORT — Freeport entered Tuesday’s Senior Night facing a fellow Class B South opponent fighting for playoff positioning. The Wells Warriors entered the game one spot behind the sixth-place Falcons.
Freeport didn’t leave the spot up for grabs, jumping out to a 16-5 lead after one quarter and running away with a 67-35 Western Maine Conference boys high school basketball win.
Wells took an early lead as Tyler Bridge connected inside and Gavyn Leighton knocked down an early trey, but the 5-4 lead was the last for the Warriors. Freeport stormed back with a 12-0 run to end the quarter. The Falcon offense was led by senior Toby Holt, who knocked down a 3-pointer to give Freeport the lead, and followed it up with a quick turnover and transition basket.
Holt added another trey late in the quarter, scoring 10 of his game-high 26 points in the opening period. The senior shot 4-for-5 from the field overall in the first.
“I’ve never actually had two threes in a game I don’t think,” said Holt. “We just spread the energy around to everyone.”
More players became involved in the energized Freeport offense in the second quarter. Shea Wagner and Kaleb Barrett joined in the Falcon attack behind the arc, with each knocking down 3-pointers.
Bridge did his part to keep pace for Wells with five points in the quarter and Matt Sherburne went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. The Warriors still found themselves facing a nine-point deficit at halftime, 28-19.
“The starters did a great job of getting us going,” said Freeport coach Bill Ridge. “We ran some good pressure in the first quarter and got some buckets in transition. Obviously we kind of fed off the energy in the gym and it carried us through.”
Freeport started to pull away in the third quarter. The Falcons opened the half shooting 5-for-7 from the field. Holt continued scoring with six early points.
The Warriors took a timeout midway through the quarter after being outscored by Freeport, 14-7. Barrett created a turnover out of the timeout and found Charlie Ngoal for two. Barrett added a jumper on the next possession as the Falcons continued to roll, extending the lead to 50-31 after three quarters.
“We were hot early,” said Ridge. “It’s pretty contagious, everyone wants to be a part of it.”
The Falcons closed out the game with their best quarter defensively, limiting the Warriors to just four points at the free-throw line. With Wells unable to score from the field, Holt added four more for Freeport. Eriksen Shea later hit from 3-point range as the Falcons extended the lead.
“That was one of our better defensive games,” said Ridge. “We’re starting to box out really well. Were starting to get faster boards defensively which we haven’t been doing. We’ve been giving teams extra chances.”
Freeport capped off the scoring when senior manager Leo Li checked into the game in the last minute. Li knocked down a jumper as the home crowd erupted.
“He’s been around these seniors since eighth grade being their manager,” said Ridge. “That was great.”
Freeport improved to 11-6 with the win and still sits in sixth place in Class B South. Gabe Wagner chipped in nine points to go with Holt’s 26.
The Warriors fell to 8-9 with the loss, Sherburne finished with 10 points while Bridge had nine.
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